April 2017 Meeting

Annual Dinner Meeting Our annual dinner meeting will take place on Monday, May 15, at the Salt Creek Grille in Princeton Forrestal Village (Route 1 south, near the Westin hotel). A brief meeting will begin at 6:15 PM, followed by dinner and our speaker, Sam S.-H. Wang, PhD, professor at Princeton University in the Neuroscience Institute and the Department of Molecular Biology. Dr. Wang will speak on the topic of Can Math Help Save Democracy? Gerrymandering, Statistics, and the Supreme Court.

The cost is $40 per person, with cash bar. Please make your check payable to: The League of Women Voters of the Princeton Area, and mail to:

LWV of the Princeton Area PO Box 253 Kingston, NJ 08528

New members and guests are welcome to join us for an enjoyable evening.

Treasurer’s Report There were no comments on Ellen Kemp’s report, which showed that our League is in sound financial shape. A copy of the Treasurer's Report is available on the Members Only page of the League’s website.

There will be no increase in dues for next year.

As noted also below under Convention, funding is available for Voting Delegates and other attendees. Please contact Ellen at ellenmkemp@gmail.com for more information.

Planning for Next Year Members of the Leadership Committee will be contacted by Sandy Smith to renew their terms for another year. Anyone interested in joining the Leadership Committee should contact Sandy at sa2smith@comcast.net.

Lee proposed adding another business meeting for next year, bringing the total to 4. The meetings would be as follows (dates TBD): September – welcome new members and focus on Voter Service; November – Leadership Committee meeting to plan for rest of year (all members welcome to attend); January – Program Planning and other business; April – planning for upcoming year. Meetings would be held on Tuesday evenings from 7-9 at the Princeton Senior Center. This proposal, and the updated Leadership Committee, will be voted on at the annual meeting.

A volunteer is needed to organize the annual dinner meeting for 2018.

Voter ServicePrior to the meeting, a VS report from Chrystal Schivell was distributed. As previously announced, Chrystal will be stepping down as VS Chair in June, and a volunteer is needed for this important position.

A VS meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 2 at 6 PM at McCaffrey’s in Princeton (second floor dining area). Chrystal, Patricia Casey and Sandy Smith will be reviewing VOTE411 to prepare Voters’ Guides, since we need more volunteers to cover our numerous races. Several new members will be participating, and all members are welcome. Please contact Patricia at mpconnolly@sprynet.com if you are interested. The meeting should last about an hour.

A volunteer is needed to cover the primary for Freeholder in Middlesex County (4 candidates for 2 seats), using VOTE411. Please contact Chrystal at chrystal.schivell@verizon.net if you can help.

Membership Our League is very pleased to welcome 10 new members! This brings our total to 54.

Congratulations to Grace Sinden for reaching her 50-year anniversary. Grace will be recognized at Convention and our annual meeting.

LWVNJ Update A reminder that the State League Convention will take place on Saturday, April 29 at Forsgate Country Club in Monroe. The Making Democracy Work cocktail reception and awards ceremony will be held there the evening preceding Convention. If you did not receive the invitation please go to the website lwvnj.org for details. The registration deadline has been extended, and reimbursement for attendees is available from our budget.

We are entitled to 3 voting delegates based on our membership as of January. Jennifer Howard will serve as one and she agreed to represent us in the Parade of Leagues. Nancy Hall agreed to be a delegate, and we still have one spot available so please contact Lee at nickoleforbes@hotmail.com if you can be our 3rd delegate. Ellen and Lee will attend as State board members.

Thank you to Jessica Knowlton for making all the Callathon calls that were assigned to our local league this year!

Other BusinessElizabeth Bates provided an update on housing issues, particularly the lack of transparency by the Mercer County Freeholders.

Members of the E. Windsor-Hightstown league are organizing an event on May 7th, beginning at 1:30, called Standing Together, a Public Rally Celebrating Diversity, to be held at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor. They would greatly appreciate our help in spreading the word and participating in the rally. If you can help distribute flyers or otherwise support this event please contact Lee at nickoleforbes@hotmail.com.